Asian Business Review, Volume 3, Number 2/2013 (Issue 6)

ISSN 2304-2613 (Print); ISSN 2305-8730 (Online) 0

Role of Micro Credit Program in Empowering Rural Women

in Bangladesh: A Study on Grameen Bank Bangladesh
Limited
Dhanonjoy Kumar1; Afjal Hossain2; & Monto Chandra Gope3
1AssistantProfessor, Department of Management, Islamic University, Kushtia, Bangladesh
2AssistantProfessor, Department of Marketing, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Patuakhali, Bangladesh
3Guest Faculty & Former Senior Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, Metropolitan University, Sylhet, Bangladesh

ABSTRACT
Bangladesh is one of the high density countries of the world. 40% of its population lives below the poverty level of
which rural women are poorer. The rise of the Micro Credit Institution in the global context is identified as an
important phenomenon which has implication for the development prospects of the poor. The paper was designed to
identify the role of Grameen Bank (GB) and to analyze rural women’s economic empowerment as the outcome of micro-
credit interventions. In this regard, an exploratory research has been made to focus on the activities and impacts after
receiving micro-credit from GB. A sample size of 100 respondents has been interviewed through a structured
questionnaire, in-depth interview and observation from Jhenaidah and Kushtia districts. The result shows that the
women are more independent and can engage in decision making process after receiving and using micro credit.

Keywords: Grameen Bank, Micro Credit, Women, Empowerment, Bangladesh

JEL Classification Code: M19

INTRODUCTION

W
omen Women represent around 50% of the
world population, and in many regions of the
developing world, their contribution is
immense in all the sectors of development. But
still in today’s world, women’s position is not the same
as their counterparts. Due to gender based
discrimination and socially constructed sub-ordination
women have inferior status everywhere in all the aspects
of life i.e. political, economic, familiar or social. In
Bangladesh like many other developing countries
women’s access to positions of influence and power is
limited. Their occupational choices are narrower, and
their earnings lower than those of men; and they must
struggle to reconcile activities outside the home with
their traditional roles. While men particularly among the
poor also find themselves disenfranchised, it is a far
more common experience among women. This
experience is rooted in the failure to value women for
anything but their reproductive role. The need for
empowerment of women in Bangladesh arises from this
harsh social scenario (Goswami, 1998: 45).
LITERATURE REVIEW
Literatures suggest that NGO interventions positively
contribute to women empowerment (Ullah AKM, 2003:
21). NGOs central goal is empowering the powerless
women folk or helping them to bloom their hidden
Copyright © 2013, Asian Business Consortium | ABR
potentialities which is power of thought, power of word,
and power of organization with a view to helping them
to participate in the socio economic development for
their emancipation from less human condition to more
human condition (Haider and Aktar, 1999: 57). The most
extreme example of this discrimination can be seen in the
third world countries. Bangladesh is a glaring example of
this lowered status of women as well as of all sorts of
gender based segregation. More than 60 million people
of Bangladesh live below the poverty line among them
74% are women (Khan, Z. H 1998). In Bangladesh, the
situations of rural women are more painful. Most of the
rural women are deprived, to fulfill their basic needs.
They become the victims of acid throwing, dowry, high
mortality malnutrition, higher illiteracy etc. Now it is a
dire need to let them raise their voice regarding human
rights, decision making process, and moreover socio
cultural and economic issues. One of the best ways of
enabling women empowerment is access to credit, so
that they can start to earn money. Bangladesh economy
is characterized by unfavorable per capita land, low per
capita income, glaring and accentuating income
disparity, high level of unemployment, low productivity
and persisting high levels of poverty and deprivation.
Under the circumstances, micro credit has been
promoted to help the poor especially the women to take
self-employment on tiny or micro scales with a view to
improving their living conditions. When income flow
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begins, then the right of food, shelter and everything also
becomes a reality (Yunus, 1987). Rural poor women have
little or no property of assets to offer as collateral which
is required in formal banking system, micro credit has
responded to the predicament by offering collateral free
loans. Considering the role of creating self-employment
opportunities, creating self-confidence, increasing
awareness among women in Bangladesh, GB led the
way, starting in the mid 1970s. Now there are hundreds
of micro-credit providers of different operational sized
throughout the country, mostly in rural areas but also
some in urban areas. The large ones include GB, BRAC,
ASA and PROSHEKA. Among them GB earned
respectable status for Bangladesh in the international
arena because of its poverty reduction strategies through
which poor rural women are moving in the path of
empowerment and development.
Presently in its wider dimension micro credit is known
as microfinance and seen as a legitimate economic tool in
the fight against poverty. The impact of giving credit to
women has been a controversial issue. At one end of the
spectrum, some argue that micro credit has positive
impacts on gender equality, women’s empowerment and
households’ well-being. On the other end of spectrum,
microfinance is thought to bring negative impacts for
women (Hulme, 2000). Concerning the positive impacts
of microfinance on women, microfinance is claimed to
help to reduce poverty by increasing consumption
among microcredit program participants and their
families, improving children’s schooling, nutrition,
increasing income and self-employment (Khandker,
1998, Pitt at al., 2006). Microfinance can reduce intimate
partner violence in the household through participation
of women in the credit programs and generate social
capital for the participants (Julia et al., 2007; Pronyk et
al., 2008) and access to credit can enhance women’s
economic independence, leading to women’s self-esteem
and status in the households and wider community
(Goetz and Gufta, 1996; Kabeer, 2001). Moreover, women
participating into micro credit programs improve their
ability to exercise agency in the intra-household
processes, to increase women’s welfare resulting in
decreasing male bias in welfare outcomes in the
household; to increase the contraceptive use by women
(Mahmud, 2003; Schuler & Hashemi, 1994). Microfinance
savings and MFIs also potentially help families in
developing countries to cope with financial risks from
main illnesses resulting from the cost of medical care and
loss of income during illness (Gertler and Moretti, 2008).
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this study are-
1. To identify the role of micro credit as a strategy for
empowering women in Bangladesh.
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2. To describe the ability of women as micro credit
beneficiaries to take part in decision making process
at the family level.
3. To examine their economic empowerment
considering ability to increase their income level.
METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY
Methodology plays an important role in any research.
Appropriate methodology enables the researcher to collect
valid and reliable information and to analyze the
information properly to draw a clear-cut conclusion. The
study used both qualitative and quantitative methods and
03 different data collection instruments. The research is a
survey based exploratory research which was conducted
using primary data. To collect primary data for the study
several methods such as questionnaire, in-depth interview
and observation as well as Focus Group Discussion (FGD)
were used. Collected data was analyzed and interpreted
through statistical techniques. Secondary data are used for
the reanalysis of previously collected and analyzed data.
Secondary sources were simply published books and
articles by scholars. In this study, Jhenidah and Kushtia
districts have been selected for some reasons. Several
numbers of micro credit institutions especially selected GB
is working and providing micro credit to landless women,
divorced women, and widow women for many years. By
collecting a list from regional GB Manager and officers’
two branches were selected from GB. Among 5000 micro
credit recipients approximately 2% households were the
sample size of the study. The sample size (100) was
selected randomly by simple random sampling method
using random number.
KEY CONCEPTS OF THE STUDY
Micro-credit program plays an important role in socio-
economic development of rural poor especially for women.
This study will help the selected organizations to know
about the impact of micro credit on women empowerment.
Women: A woman is an adult female human being, as
contrasted to men, an adult male, and a girl, a female
child. The term woman (irregular plural: women) is used
to indicate biological sex distinctions, cultural gender
role distinctions, or both (Wikimedia, 2005:1). Women
constitute about half of the total population of the
country. Apart from the household activities, they are
contributing substantially to the national economy.
Empowerment: Empowerment means the
transformation of structures of subordination, through
radical changes in law, property rights, control over
women’s labor and bodies, and the institutions that
reinforce and perpetuate male domination (Batliwala,
1993:5). But more specifically, the outcome of
empowerment should manifest itself as a redistribution
of power between individuals, genders, groups, classes,
castes, races, ethnic groups or nations. Empowerment of
women is now a global issue. Although this term is
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ISSN 2304-2613 (Print); ISSN 2305-8730 (Online)
usually used for improving women’s condition, in real
sense it may be applied to any disadvantaged group of
society for bringing them to the same level of advanced
section. In simple sense, empowerment is a process
which redistributes power from the powerful to the
powerless. In the context of Bangladesh, empowerment
of women means women should be given freedom of
choice for fulfillment and self-development, as well as
equal access to domestic and community resources,
opportunities and power. In this study focus will be
given on the strategic needs (decision making ability in
the family, economic freedom like ability to make small
and big purchases for her, children and family as well as
her gendered position in the family and society).
Economic empowerment: Women’s access to savings and
credit gives them a greater economic role in decision-
making through their decision about savings and credit.
When women control decisions regarding credit and
savings, they will optimize their own and the household’s
welfare. The investment in women’s economic activities
will improve employment opportunities for women and
thus have a ‘trickle down and out’ effect. The financial
sustainability and feminist empowerment paradigms
emphasize women’s own income generating activities. In
the poverty alleviation paradigm, the emphasis is more on
increasing incomes at the household level and the use of
loans for consumption.
Social and political empowerment: A combination of
women’s increased economic activity and control over
income resulting from access to micro-finance with
improved women’s skills, mobility, and access to
knowledge and support networks. Status within the
community is also enhanced. These changes are reinforced
by group formation, leading to wider movements for
social and political change. The financial self-sustainability
paradigm and the poverty alleviation paradigm assume
that social and political empowerment will occur without
specific interventions to change gender relations at the
household, community or macro-levels. By contrast, the
feminist empowerment paradigm advocates explicit
strategies for supporting women’s ability to protect their
individual and collective gender interests at the
household, community and macro-levels (Mayoux, 2001).
Micro credit: The word credit’ comes from Latin word’
credo’ meaning ‘I believe or to trust’. Hence “credit” entails
some one, the lender, to believe or trust some one, the
borrower with funds to be used by the borrower for his
/her purposes, to be repaid to the lender with interest at a
later stage on agreed terms and conditions. Micro credit is
the extension of very small loans (micro loans) to those in
poverty designed to spur entrepreneurship. These
individuals lack collateral, steady employment and a
verifiable credit history and therefore cannot meet even the
most minimal qualifications to gain access to traditional
credit. Micro credit is a part of microfinance, which is the
provision of a wider range of financial services to the very
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poor. Microcredit (mI-[*]Kro'kre-dit); noun; programmes
extend small loans to very poor people for self-employment
projects that generate income, allowing them to care for
themselves and their families. Micro credit is a financial
innovation that is generally considered to have originated
with the GB in Bangladesh (Parvin, 1995). Micro-credit is
based on a separate set of principles which are
distinguished from general financing or credit. Micro-credit
emphasizes building capacity of a micro-entrepreneur,
employment generation, trust building and help to the
micro entrepreneur on initiation and during difficult times.
Micro credit is a tool for socio-economic development.
United Nations former Secretary General Koffi Annan
comments Micro credit is a critical anti-poverty tool-a wise
investment in human capital. When the poorest especially
women receive credit, they become economic actors with
power, power to improve not only their own lives but in a
widening circle of impact, the lives of their family, their
communities and their nations. Micro credit loan cycles are
usually shorter than traditional commercial loans-typically
six months to a year with payments plus interest, due
weekly. Shorter loan cycles and weekly payments help the
borrowers may current and not become overwhelmed by
large payments. Now in Bangladesh there are hundreds of
micro credit providers of different operational sizes
throughout the country, mostly in rural areas but also some
in urban areas.
Grameen Bank: GB has reversed conventional banking
practice by removing the need for collateral and created a
banking system based on mutual trust, accountability,
participation and creativity. GB provides credit to the
poorest of the poor in rural Bangladesh without any
collateral. At GB, credit is a cost effective weapon to fight
poverty and it serves as a catalyst in the overall
development of socio-economic conditions of the poor
who have been kept outside the banking orbit on the
ground that they are poor and hence not bankable. GB, the
creation of Professor Dr. Yunus, began working in Jobra,
Chittagong in 1976 as an action research project and
became a full-fledged bank in 1983. It began up as a
specialized financial micro credit providing institution
offering services to rural poor (specially the women)
without collateral. As the poor women is the most
vulnerable group and have no access to formal banking
system. As of October, 2011, it has 8.349 million
borrowers, 97% of whom are women. With 2,565
branches, GB provides services in 81,379 villages, covering
more than 97% of the total villages in Bangladesh.
Micro-enterprise Loans: Many borrowers are moving
ahead in businesses faster than others for many favorable
reasons, such as, proximity to the market, presence of
experienced male members in the family, etc. GB provides
larger loans, called micro enterprise loans, for these fast
moving members. There is no restriction on the loan size.
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Table 1: Top 25 Items in order of microenterprise loan socio-economic condition in this study. In the table 3, it is
amounts shown that married respondents mostly contribute (92%
For Female Amount (Order Descending) alone) in the socio-economic condition of the country with
Female Female the help of micro credit. Education is another important
Serial Activity Name variable for economic development. Class I-V is the large
No Amount portion (28%) of the total respondents who contribute for
1 Grocery shop 69,519 2,905,256,609 the economic development rather than others. It is evident
2 Milch cow 77,213 1,941,600,917 that educated woman is much more conscious and aware
3 Cow fattening 85,165 1,653,469,667 about his economic condition than an illiterate woman (42%
4 Rice/Paddy trading 55,603 1,571,737,050 can sign only).
5 Miscellaneous business 59,606 1,282,521,942
6 Paddy cultivation 40,435 986,523,759 Table 2: Demographic characteristics of the respondents
7 Land lease 26,000 723,757,874 Frequency Valid Cumula
8 Vegetables trading 30,723 707,683,291 (%) tive (%)
9 Bamboo works 17,857 662,514,854 Marital Status Group
10 Cloths trading 17,800 615,207,116 Married 92 92 92
11 Stationery shop 16,711 584,570,161 Single 02 2 94
12 Pisciculture 21,784 535,886,563 Divorced 01 1 95
13 Fish trading 16,298 461,406,362 Widow 04 4 99
14 Plantation 15,616 450,028,464 Separated 01 1 100
15 Vegetables cultivation 14,121 377,374,523 Total = 100 100
16 Cane works 9,198 335,213,688 A. Educational Status Group
17 Rickshaw purchase 11,353 287,138,995 Illiterate 20 20 20
18 Poultry raising 13,172 285,286,838 Can sign only 22 22 42
19 Garments making 5,764 281,336,474 Class I- V 28 28 70
20 Cloths shop 8,219 246,358,706 Class VI-X 0 0 70
21 Goat 9,503 246,097,348 SSC 27 27 97
22 Land cultivation 10,572 244,679,717 Below HSC 00 00 97
23 Farming 9,911 242,891,372 HSC 03 03 100
24 Rabi crop cultivation 6,678 231,924,194 Total = 100 100
25 Garden lease 7,199 222,617,276 B. Occupational Status Group
Source: Grameen Bank Annual report, 2010 Housewife 87 87 87
Unemployed 02 02 89
Self-employed 05 05 94
Figure 1: Disbursement of Microenterprise Loans
Wage-labor 01 01 95
Service holder 04 04 99
Student 01 01 100
Total = 100 100
C. Income Source Group
Agriculture 03 03 03
Maid Servant 01 01 04
Ricks puller 08 08 12
Resp. Service 03 03 15
Husband Job 25 25 40
Husband Business 40 40 80
Sons Job 03 03 83
Husband Massion 04 04 87
Livestock Firm 01 01 88
Own Business 00 00 88
Father in laws Service 01 01 89
Source: Grameen Bank Annual report 2010.
Day Labour 03 03 92
Electrician 02 02 94
MEASUREMENT AND ANALYSIS OF THE STUDY Van Puller 06 06 100
Demographic Characteristics: Total = 100 100
Demographic characteristics determine the characteristics of D. Monthly Income (Tk.) Group
a person i.e. age, marital status, occupation, number of 1,000 – 2,000 06 06 06
household members, sex, income level etc. Marital status of 2,001 – 4,000 30 30 36
women is used to know the empowerment status and 4,001 – 6,000 20 20 56

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Asian Business Review, Volume 3, Number 2/2013 (Issue 6)
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6,001 – 8,000 04 04 60 Table 4: Change of monthly income of the respondents
8,001 – 10,000 06 06 66 after receiving micro credit.
10,001 – 12,000 0 0 66 Monthly Frequency Valid (%) Cumulative (%)
12,000 + 04 04 70 income (Tk.)
No comments 30 30 100 1,000 – 2,000 02 02 02
Total = 100 100 2,001 – 4,000 12 12 14
Source: Field Survey, 2012 4,001 – 6,000 31 31 45
6,001 – 8,000 11 11 56
In the occupational perspective it is shown that 8,001 – 10,000 07 07 63
housewife alone 87% is the contributors for his/ her 10,001 – 12,000 02 02 65
development of the economic condition with the help of 12,000 + 10 10 75
micro credit in Bangladesh. The income source of the No comments 25 25 100
female is largely on the husband business (40%) because Total = 100 100
of their occupation is housewife. In case of monthly Source: Field Survey, 2012
income it is shown that about 30% of the total
respondents didn’t say about their income level due to Table 4 denotes the changes of income level due to receive
unwillingness. But it is also shown that 30% of the the micro credit from GB. It explains that the respondents
respondents income level is just within Tk. 2,001 – didn’t make any comment is 25% reduced by 5%. It also
4,000/= which is not satisfactory as today’s cost of living. explains that the highest level of income is Tk. 4,001 –
6,000/= of 31% whereas Tk. 2,001 – 4,000/= was the highest
That’s why it is needed to engage with micro credit which income level before receiving micro credit. So, comparing
is explained in the following tables (Table 3 and 4). before and after receiving credit from GB member’s it can
be said that income level is increased in each level of the
Table-03: Change of income source of the respondents followings (From Tk. 6,001 to Tk. 12,000 +).
after receiving credit
Sources Frequency Valid (%) Cumula
ROLE OF MICRO CREDIT PROGRAM
of Income tive (%) Micro-credit play a vital role for women socio-economic
Agriculture 16 16 16 development, as it affects on all aspects of their life. GB is
Maid Servant 01 01 17 involved in micro-credit operation by providing credit for
Ricks puller 08 08 25 various purposes to the women especially in empowering
Resp. Service 03 03 28 the poor rural women in Bangladesh. With the help of
Husband Job 10 10 38 different sectors they are just focusing empowerment of
Husband Business 25 25 63 the women in case of decision making process in the
Sons Job 05 05 68 personal, family, social and even in national level,
Husband Massion 01 01 69 improvement of the life style and also in socio-economic
Livestock Firm 08 08 77 development etc. From the study it is shown that most of
Own Bisness 14 14 91 the members (81%) are satisfied about their (GB) credit
Father in laws 01 01 92 facilities (credit sufficiency: Figure 2).
Service
Day Labour 01 03 95 Figure 2: Influence of Micro Credit Program
Electrician 02 02 97
Van Puller 03 03 100
Total = 100 100
Source: Field Survey, 2012

Sources of income play a vital role for the socio-economic

development. Table 3 indicates that the highest number of
income source is husband business is 25% decreased by
15% after receiving micro credit from GB. It is also shown
that own business is increased by 14% because of taking this
advantage. So, it is to say that GB members try to increase
their individual income and engaged individual business.
Source: Field Survey, 2012

Most of the members (85%) were able to take part in

decision making process after joining in the micro credit
activities from GB, generating a good monthly income from
the sources of income. Most of the members think that their

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Asian Business Review, Volume 3, Number 2/2013 (Issue 6)
ISSN 2304-2613 (Print); ISSN 2305-8730 (Online)
life styles improvement start after receiving and using of
micro credit. Most of the respondents (74%) told that their
socio-economic condition has improved after taking micro
credit which has made them more confident and reliance. It
has increased their sources of income, so women
respondents were able to spent money to their own needs,
purposes and for their family that has empowered (81%)
them in long term. So the researcher tried to assess the
socio-economic condition of the respondents in the study
for understanding their empowerment.
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
The findings of this study are discussed here:
 It was found that most of the members are illiterate
and their credit utilization ability is very weak.
 It was found that most of the members had small scale
land. For this reason the members cannot use their
capital to produce agricultural products.
 For the lack of proper knowledge and training the
members cannot use their savings properly.
 It was seen that most of the respondents could take
decision on using micro-credit. In focus group
discussion and interview they revealed their
husband gave importance of their opinion, so they
can take a little decision on using micro credit.
 The woman entrepreneurs face various problems to
marketing their products.
RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE STUDY
 The present study indicated that most of the women
credit recipients were illiterate, so they had to
depend on their husband to utilize their loan. That’s
why GB authority should concern to increase
women literacy rate by which women can utilize
loan with freedom that can ensure empowerment.
 The present study revealed that most of the credit
recipients have successfully utilized their credit in
non-agricultural purposes like poultry, livestock,
and homestead gardening. So GB should need to
increase the amount of credit from the beginning
time for investment in non-agriculture purposes.
 GB authorities should need to take some initiatives for
increasing women respondents’ knowledge and
efficiency though proper training courses.
 After micro credit disbursement, GB authorities should
need to guidelines the members to use their credit
amount individually not depends on other family
member.
 It was found during focus group discussion that
borrower entrepreneurs’ women often face problems
in the marketing operations. Though this is mainly
due to the attitude of the society which can not be
changed easily. GB can play a role through the
provision of guidance to perform the marketing
functions in organized groups especially in case of
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promoting and selling the products to the target
people with fair price.
CONCLUSION
The main cause of poverty in Bangladesh is the lack of
productive employment opportunities for the huge
number of unemployed and under employed work force
which is tremendously increasing and posing serious
problems for the country. Nearly half of the populations
in Bangladesh are women and most of them are living in
the rural area of the country. They need to have engaged
in income generating activities. So creating self-
employment for women in the rural areas can play a
vital role in reducing the rural unemployment and acute
poverty. It can be made through micro credit which will
empower them too. The micro credit program of GB has
benefited the poor women in more than one way. These
programs enhanced their security giving them access to
assets and rights and augmented their self-respect
providing them choice and independence. Micro credit
has enabled the poor women to undertake diversified
economic activities which generate flow of stable income
round the year and thus has strengthened survival
strategy of the poor women. With micro credit, the poor
households now own assets can use to meet
contingencies without having to sacrifice their
independence, security and peace of mind by getting
into debt. Micro credit program has also empowered the
beneficiaries by raising their social consciousness which
is reflected among others in their increased participation
in local government elections and social mobilization
activities. Participation also has a beneficial effect on
women’s welfare since it increases their total
employment time by reducing their other work
responsibilities. Participation of women in micro credit
program has also increased their mobility.
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